Last of His Line
by jfrost22792
Summary: Elander was a thief, raised by a gang in the sewers beneath Firsthold, but one day the Thalmor come looking, and a past he didn't know he had drives him from his home. Fleeing to Skyrim, a story written through Magic and Blood awaits. OC Non-Dragonborn Main. Covers the College, Civil War, and Main story line.
1. A Thief

_**I own no copyrighted material present in the story.**_

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The streets of Firsthold were always like this, crowded and uncomfortable. I moved through the crowd swiftly enough, brushing the shoulder of an older altmer in fine clothes. My hand dipping into his pocket as I brushed by, there was only a few coins, silver and a few coppers from the weight of them.

"Good enough for a meal."

"Elander!"

Who could need me at this time of day? I turn toward the caller, a small argonian child, couldn't be more than 12, running down the street waving his hands. Must be a new hand, names weren't something we used, at least not our real ones.

"Your Elander right, Gabe told me to come find you." He was breathing hard, his shoulders shaking as he tried to catch his breathe. The kid looked up to finish his tale, but before he could I struck him beside the head, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Don't get up"

I grab his hand and drag him into the small alley not too far off the street, luckily this kind of thing was common enough that few people bothered with a second look. I placed my foot on his chest and looked him in the eyes, he was trembling in fear, likely trying his best not to cry.

He thinks I'm going to kill him, I hated moments like this, but if he was going to live in this world he'll need to learn. Better I teach him than leave him for Gabe or one of the others to "instruct".

"Don't look away" my voice was low, I tried to soften it as best I could. The boy would find little else soft among their company. "Don't ever let anyone see you look away in fear, better to take a beating for being insolent than work the pots for being a soft."

He was shaking less now, taking comfort in the fact that I wasn't about to kill him. "Yes, sir" his voice was quiet and still too timid.

"You're lucky it was me that you pulled that stunt on the street with and not Marcus or Wylden, you don't ever call out someone's name if you're anywhere else other than the Hive." His eyes widened as I mention the names of two of the people in charge, he must have heard the rumors about them.

I hope he keeps believing the rumors, the truth was much worse.

"Get up" I moved my foot from his chest and watched as he climbed shakily to his feet, his small tail was close to his back legs as he tried to appear as small as possible. "Where'd they find you?"

"My parents needed their skooma" his eyes start to water, his clawed hands drawing into fists. "I was all they had left to pay with."

He's collateral. At least that's what Marcus called them, really though, they were slaves their parents had sold off to pay whatever debts they had hanging over their heads. The kids worked in the Hive until they could pay off their parent's debt.

Dock workers then, not much else the argonians were allowed to work as in Firsthold.

The status of none mer in Alinor was a non-existent thing, being a non-mer here was a difficult thing. Most thought the humans were pretentious for thinking they were the equals of mer, but they were at least afforded decent treatment if their accompanied status could even get them into Alinor in the first place. The beast races were not so lucky, less than human was already lower than animals to most.

"Next time you're sent after someone, walk up to their side and speak quietly to them, but never use their names. Learn the aliases for the people in the section above you from your minder. You should have been assigned a minder before they sent you off." I frowned, he's too green to have an assignment yet. Even if it was only to fetch someone back for news or an emergency.

"Do you have one yet?" the small argonian shook his head and looked up at me confused, he seemed to be having trouble judging whether I was trying to help him or if I was going to punish him. "No, sir", I thought as much.

I couldn't help but sigh, "What was the message?"

"I was sent to tell you that…" he paused for a moment, seemingly thinking of how to say who sent him without using any names.

"You already told me who sent you" I spoke calmly, trying to coax the rest out of him. "I just need to know what he told you to tell me."

He nods again, "He said that he needs you back right away, that I should tell you that a new pack of wolves wandered into town on a hunting trip."

I could feel the cold sweat starting to form on by brow, wolves could only mean Thalmor. That didn't seem right though, the local Thalmor got reinforcements and transferred men in and out of Firsthold all the time.

No, if he was sending a warning it meant one of them was here. A Justiciar had come to Firsthold, and if one of them was here, then someone was being hunted.

"Go back and tell him that I got the message." I start to walk away as I hear the boy call after me, "You're not coming back?"

"No" I call back over my shoulder as I reach the end of the alley, "that wasn't the point of the message."

I shifted through the crowded streets, it was nearing mid-day now and the whole of the city was alive. I ducked into an alley as I rounded the street out of the merchant quarter and into the official's district, all of Firsthold's government buildings, with the exception of the Kings personal advisors, were here.

If there was really a Justiciar in the capital, then he would be in either the Thalmor's headquarters here, or in audience with the King. I found a perch in the alley and climbed up the buildings drainage pipe. The view from the roof gave me the perfect vantage to watch and wait for the cities new addition.

It was dusk before I caught sight of the Justiciar, he looked much like the other Thalmor in appearance, same robes and smug expression as the rest. Only this Thalmor was walking next to women in charge of the local branch in Firsthold. That this new face was walking beside her instead of behind her was a clear give away.

They walked toward me and I kept my position on the roof to make sure that I wasn't noticed, "I mean to be here until my quarry is found."

"Of course Justiciar, if there is anything I can do to help you carry out the Kings will..."

The King, that can't be right. King Reman tolerated the Thalmor in his Kingdom at best, outright loathed their presence at worst. No, they weren't talking him. If it wasn't Reman, then it meant the worst possible answer, they were talking about the King of Alinor.

I shook myself out of my daze, I had to follow, find out who they were looking for. King of Alinor was at the head of the Thalmor and the Dominion, if he was hunting someone down in Firsthold they needed to know who, and if it was them, they needed time to run.

"I think you for your cooperation, with any luck the lead will have proven right and my time here will be both well spent and short lived."

"Yes, of course. Do you have an indication of where I should send my men to begin the search?" The local Thalmor leader looked nervous about the question, I didn't interact with Thalmor as a rule, but even I knew that if this man could make the leader of all of Firsthold's Thalmor nervous, then I wanted nothing to do with him.

"I know that the women lived here for a time, and from what I've found before arriving, I know that she died here as well."

"Are we searching for her belongings then? I can have the merchants in the city questioned to see if what you're looking for turned up on any of their counters. Or perhaps I can have people talk to local physicians about the treating the woman if you have a description of her?"

"There is no need to talk to the merchants, the physicians however, they should be talked to. I am told she may have died in childbirth, and if that is the case, then the child is my quarry now." So the Justiciar didn't come here hunting us, he came here tracking a dead woman.

I needed more, but the Justiciar's group had gone into the local garrison hall, and I would standout to much in there to follow. I had my answer for Gabe, I needed to get back before they their paranoia won out and started to evacuate the city.

The walk back to the Hive was as tedious as always, weaving in and out through the old sewer networks beneath the city. There was something off in the Thalmor's actions here, looking for a child of a dead woman didn't seem like something they'd waste their time on.

How do they even intend to try and find a single orphan in city as large as Firsthold? There was a small explosion of orphans after the Great War, half of the people he worked with were orphans themselves. For Auri-El's sake, even he was one.

That Justiciar had his work cut out for him, if we could find out more about the woman though…it would at least be a lead to work with.

I freeze, the tale tell clicking of the crossbow bolt sliding into place welcomes me as I turn the last corner.

"Damn it El, I almost shot you."

"Yes, I see that" The guard at the door had always been the jumpy sort, it made him good at watching out for movement in the shadows. I made nearly no sound at all when I walked, more out of a force of habit than anything else, but the old bastard always hears me coming anyway. "Try not to skewer anyone friendly before all of this dies down, alright?"

"No promises" the old man smiled friendly enough, now if he'd just lower the damn crossbow. He noticed my eyes still on the crossbow and gave a light chuckle as he set it back against the wall. "There's been hollering going on in there since morning, can here the yelling. Best of luck boy." He pats my shoulder as he unlocks the door and lets me though.

Just my luck, their yelling normally meant my life was about to get even more complicated. Last time it was sneaking into the House of Commerce to get a look at the new trade agreement with Cloudrest, and the time before that it was getting the key to the castle dungeons.

They got mad, he got work, normally the extremely dangerous kind.

"Elander!" the holler was deafening. Of course Gabe would see me before I got a chance to grab something to eat. I haven't had anything to eat or drink since dawn and I think my stomach is talking mutiny now.

"If I have to put up with this, then so do you." The offending organ then proceeded to growl at him.

"Elander, where have you been?" Marcus looked at me with a glare, I think he's the reason the kids down here seem to think bosmer can't smile.

"Spending his time getting drunk at a tavern, that or chasing skirts no doubt." Oh Wylden, someday I will mount the pretty head of hers on a pike somewhere. Turn her down once and I'm queued for taking her shit the rest of my days, forgetting of course that she Gabe's wife, and he's disemboweled men for looking at her too long, let alone trying to touch her.

"Enough! Where have you been? When I call for you to come, I expect you to be here sooner rather than later bastard." The smirk on the old altmer face nearly drove me to breaking his jaw then and there, it would be a death sentence of course.

It would almost worth it.

I felt the rage build up at sound of Gabe's favorite insult, maybe it didn't mean much to others, but calling an Altmer a bastard was like calling a King a beggar.

Our blood meant everything to us, and I knew nothing of mine. A fact none of them were ever willing to let me forget, they were trash, but to my own people, trash like them still deserved more respect than me.

"I was out getting answers instead of sitting listening to you all shout questions at each other." I realized my mistake the moment I finished, Marcus had me by the neck and thrown into the wall across the room before I could fight back.

Damn that little shit's enchantments, he covered himself in dark leathers and cheap brass rings all enchanted with strength and speed boosts to make up for his small size and old age. At three hundred, as a bosmer, he should be reaching the end of his life in a decade or so.

"Couldn't come a day to soon."

"Enough, get him up." Gabe ordered and Marcus wretched me up from the ground, I fought back the wince as he nearly pulled my shoulder out of its socket.

"If you can't fight back, bastard, then you shouldn't go picking fights." The smile Wylden gave me along with her mocking advice was enough to turn anyone's sweat-tooth sour. She was beautiful, in a twisted "I'll kill you after we're done and laugh about it later" kind of way.

She was right about the fighting part though, much as I begrudged agreeing with anything that came off that poisonous tongue of her. I'm great at moving in shadows, at staying unseen and unheard for as long as I like. I can get through any lock, pick any pocket, and find any information that needed found.

When it came to weapons however, well…I was horrible at them from the moment I picked up my first blade and I've not gotten better with time. No matter how much I tried to practice, it was simply a skill I didn't have the talent for.

"What did you find out?" Gabe was staring at me in a way that told me the time for antics was over.

"There's a Justiciar in the city, working with the local Thalmor in a man hunt." The news went over about as well as can be expected, Marcus immediately said we should evacuate, Wylden said we should kill the Justiciar before he could find us, and Gabe searched my eyes for anything else to the story I might be holding back.

"Who are they hunting?"

"A woman or at least he was. The Justiciar said she had died here, in childbirth. The child's they're prey now." They all looked at me skeptically, I'll admit…it did sound ridiculous enough to warrant the looks.

"Did you get anything else on the mother or child to go by?" I knew that look in Gabe's eyes, something wasn't sitting right with him about the whole situation.

"Does it matter?" It was Marcus who asked, his calm making a sudden reappearance once it was clear the Justiciar was after someone else other than them.

"Let them have whatever useless orphaned bastard he wants, so long as he takes it and leaves." Wylden gave me a sidelong glance as her venomous smirk returned, apparently pointing out that I was both of those things, as often as possible, seemed to amuse her greatly.

"It matters" Gabe looked each of us in the eyes before returning to his thought. "It matters, because the Hive is populated by orphans and bastards we buy from the local orphanages. If the child this Justiciar is hunting is one of ours, then he'll be coming here looking soon enough."

"Kill them all then" Marcus spoke up after a long silence stretched on after Gabe made his point. "Throw the bodies in the ocean, let the Justiciar sort them out for his bastard."

"And if the Justiciar want's the child alive? We'll be hunted down for killing the child instead of simply finding it." I couldn't help but interrupt, the idea of killing the hundred or so men, women, and children that fit the description, including himself, as a scapegoat didn't set right with me.

"Go" Gabe was looking at me as he spoke, "Go and find out as much as you can about who the women was and where we need to look for the child. If we have the child, we may be able to barter it with him for a favor, and if we don't, then we'll stay as far away from him as possible."

I turn and leave without a word. Even if I tried to protest the assignment, I'd just get beaten by one of them until I was too dazed from the pain to complain. I've gone that route before, and it's not my favorite pastime. I'll just have to grab something to eat once I'm back in the city and go from there.

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Two hundred years, that was how long Kalin had been searching, Ever since the Crystal Tower fell, ever since they had failed in their duty so completely. Their master dead and his child lost in the turmoil that followed.

The Thalmor had been searching as well, always looking since they first caught the rumor that any of them had lived. A race, they had been racing each other for two hundred years with neither making any headway in finding their quarry. Now, however, they finely knew where to look and all the efforts put into spying on their hunters had led him back to their purpose.

The heir was found, only he was too late for her, she had died in child birth. Two hundred years of praying and fighting to get to her before their enemies, and Arkay had beaten them all.

"There was a child then?" The Justiciar was questioning the healer that had taken care of the ill-fated birthing, the child had made it?

"Yes, sir." The portly healer shifted uncomfortably, visibly nervous at the direction of the conversation.

"Where is the child now?" the Justiciar was losing patience with the fidgeting physician.

"There's an orphanage in the lower quarter, "Open Arms" it's called. It was twenty years ago, but someone there would know better than I where to find the boy."

"Did you or the mother give the child a name we should know of?"

"None that I know of sir, is there anything else I can do to be of help too you, Justiciar?" The physician was looking down at the floor, trying not to meet the Thalmor's glare.

"No" the Justiciar's reply was flat and frigid, he turned and waved his hand as he leaves the small physicians house. The two agents that had been accompanying him quickly grab the man, one holds his arms back while the other sinks a blade deep into his chest. They dropped the man and make their exit, trusting that the depth of the wound and the rapid bleeding would be beyond any healing spell to repair.

I moved in quickly from my position outside of the house, the man was bleeding out to quickly to stop with what little skill I had in restoration. "Can you hear me?"

He looks up at me with fear and pain in his eyes, he must think I came to finish what they started. "I need your help" the man's eyes tell me clearly enough that he'd rather be left alone to die. Depriving a dying man of peace in his last moments was just another failing I would have to carry with me. "I know I don't have the right to ask for your help right now, but if they get to the child before I do, he'll be dead."

A light comes into his eyes as the man begins to struggle against his fading consciousness, "Mother named the boy Elander, she didn't make it long after the birth." His head started to droop, but he was fighting to finish his words even as they became more and more slurred. "Mother asked me… give the child…a letter…her things…when he came…age."

The man was interrupted by a coughing spell as the pooled blood in his lungs started evacuating itself. He raised a hand, pointing a figure at a trunk on his far wall, near his bookshelf. "Leather bag…inside trunk…boy wasn't at…the orphanage." He started to shiver as the last of his strength began to fail him, "Probably…sold to… Hive…gang…old sewers…"

I bowed my head in thanks to dying man as his life fled him, his raised hand slamming into the ground at his side in a resounding thud. I went to the trunk and broke the cheap lock keeping it closed. There was little in it other than stacks of parchment, a few books, and the leather bag. I grabbed the bag and prepared to quickly make my way from the house. The physician had given me a head start on the Thalmor, but it wouldn't last for more than a few hours.

There was the crashing sound of small debris falling in the alley beside the house, someone else was here.


	2. Calling the Hunt

_**I own no copyrighted material present in the story.**_

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I was about to slide into the shadows beside the physician's house when I noticed someone else already had. The Altmer looked to be in his late to mid forth century, dressed in black leather armor, he blended in well to the fading light of the late afternoon. I might not of seen him myself if the light hadn't caught briefly off the sword at his side.

The Thalmor were in the house for only a few minutes before the Justiciar left, then came the scream from inside the building. The two Thalmor that had flanked the Justiciar as he entered the building quickly exited, smug satisfied smirks spread across their faces.

I knew smiles like that, Marcus had one every time he got done "educating" the new additions. I remember his "corrections", at least I don't have to clean up the blood anymore.

I was about to follow the two lackeys, I didn't need to see the scene to know what these two had done. When I was about to start following them though, the man in the shadows moved into the building. "I can catch up to the Justiciar easily later", it was true enough since the Thalmor didn't seem to think it mattered if he was followed.

Can't say I blame him, even if someone was spying on his comings and goings, who would risk the ire of a Justiciar on a mission from the King of Alinor. "Apparently me"

I moved across the darkened street, sliding into the same place the other sneak had occupied.

"I need your help" I listen as best I can over the low hum of the thinning crowd on the street. "I know I don't have the right to ask for your help right now, but if they get to the child before I do he'll be dead."

Seems the man who was hiding in the shadows is after the kid as well, but why? Was he trying to protect the kid? Trying to use him? Maybe bargaining him to the Thalmor himself for a reward, this whole situation seems like a mess.

"Mother named the boy Elander, she didn't make it long after the birth." What? No…this can't be happening. The Justiciar is here for me? I'm an orphan, a bastard, I work as a fucking thief for a gang of thieves and smugglers.

Why in the hell are these people looking for me?

"Mother asked me… give the child…a letter…her things…when he came…age."

A letter, my mother left me a letter. It took all my willpower to stay rooted in the alley listening to the conversation instead of busting in and demanding some answers of my own. I had never thought about getting answers, I was told I was left on the orphanage's steps.

"Right now wasn't the time for this", I reminded myself, shaking my head to try and clear the fog from it.

"Leather bag…inside trunk…boy wasn't at…the orphanage." Altmer start their apprenticeships at 16, ever if he kept his promise to my…mother, and came to deliver the letter I would have been long gone by then. I was six when Gabe bought me off of the orphanage, I suppose it could be said that my "apprenticeship" started early.

"Probably…sold to… Hive…gang…old sewers…"

I heard the soft thud of the dead man's hand hitting the floor, followed by the cracking sound of metal against metal and the lifting lid of a chest. I bolted off, ran into the street and kept running even as the doors to the house burst open. I only spared a single look back, the old Altmer stared back at me, first with rage, and then with shock.

I kept running, I had to get back before the Justiciar got to the orphanage. The hag of a caretaker that ran the place wouldn't want to tell a Thalmor about her practice of selling off the unwanted children she took care of, but I doubt that will keep her quiet for very long. They'd be in the sewers soon enough, I need to warn Gabe, the Thalmor were coming.

The journey through the city was a quick one with my pace. I ran through the thinned crowd and into the far entrance of the tunnels, it would be better than continuing to draw attention to myself in the streets.

I knew the tunnels well and was out of them and into one of the passages for the Hive's many side entrances. The door swung up as I all but barreled through it, there were few candles burning as I made my way down and into the central chamber.

"It's agreed then?" Wylden asked in her singsong voice, I always wanted to tell her that that tone carried through all the nearby walls.

"I don't like putting ourselves into their path like this." Gabe sounded tired, as if the conversation had already trudged on for too long.

"It is the best outcome we can hope for" Marcus's voice sounded annoyed, as if he had made his point enough that it shouldn't need repeating. "Either we can trade the child for a favor if they're one of ours, or we can trade our help in the search for some latitude later on."

"It isn't often we get some Thalmor in our debt" I could all but see Wylden holding her breath, throwing a look of mock pleading over at Gabe.

"Fine" Gabe sounded resigned to the situation, to him all of this was a mess he simply didn't need. "I'll send someone out at dawn with a message for the embassy, maybe Elander will have learned something useful when he gets back."

"He's out trailing them now, yes?" Wylden sounded annoyed that I was brought into the conversation at all.

"Yes" Gabe voice was little more than a tired sigh now. "He should be back some hours before dawn, we'll see what he's found then." I could hear the chairs screech across the stone floor as they stood.

I moved as quickly away from the door as I could while staying silent, "Would they turn me over?"

"Yes", I knew the answer the moment I thought the question.

They were all thieves, smuggler, and killers. They thought I would go for a high price, so they would sell me out in a heartbeat. I didn't mean anything to them, I was the most skilled thief they had, but they can always train another. I wasn't one of their killers, I was shit with any sort of weapon and that made worth even less to them.

"I have to get out of here."

It was the only choice I had left, if I didn't run they would trade me to the Thalmor come morning. Providing the Justiciar doesn't just decide they aren't worth the trouble of negotiating with and sends a raiding part down here to kill us all.

I made my way to the far corner of the interconnected network of chambers and passages to where the private rooms of the "useful" people lived. I had gotten moved here after I managed to sneak into the barracks and make a copy of the guard's rotation schedule, wages paid, and basic information on their families that the Guard Captain kept locked in the safe in his office.

I walked out of the shadows and quickly through my door, the candle I had lit on my brief visit back earlier in the day was still barely glowing. The room was small, little more than a bed, a small worn to splinters desk, and an equally shabby cupboard, but it was everything I had ever been able to call mine.

I grabbed a leather pack from inside the cupboard, I would normally only use it when I needed to sneak something out a place and would have to have both hands free to make my escape. Though I suppose this situation fits the bill.

I took the small iron dagger I kept in a sheath at the small of my back and set to working the bottom panel of the cupboard off. It didn't take more than a few moments before it gave a light grown and came away, two small bags that I considered my treasure.

The first, a small purse of all the coin I had to my name, little more than the six gold, but it would be enough to get him on a boat or a carriage away from Firsthold. The second, slightly larger purse, was a collection of what I thought were enchanted rings and amulets that I had either thieved from one of my assignments where leaving without a trace wasn't required ,or I had pickpocketed over the years.

I didn't know the first thing about magic, so whatever enchantments they did or didn't have, were a mystery to me. If Gabe, Marcus, or Wylden had ever found them here, they'd likely have killed him for holding out on them. Enchantments were extremely expensive even for the weakest of them, like the ones Marcus covers himself in.

The three of them would not have been forgiving.

I through them in my bag and went to my desk, I knew I wouldn't be able to take everything. As little as I had, it would still be too much for the lone bag to carry. I had a small collection of books I had "acquired" over the years, I had lost track of the sheer number of extra jobs it had taken before he got Gabe to agree to teach him to read, and even then he only did it after I kept on him despite the pain that came with getting him annoyed.

I wouldn't be able to take them all with me, but there was one I couldn't leave behind. "Ruins of Kemel-Ze", a tale of delving deep into a Dwemer ruin, and finding more adventure than one would expect. I knew it was sentimental to keep it, but I can't bring myself to leave it behind.

I placed the book into the bag and quickly pack the few spare clothes I had on top. It was a little sad I guess, I hated this place, but it was still home, and I knew that when I left there would be no coming back.

I knew the rules, if you run from the gang then your life is forfeit. An if my leaving wasn't enough incentive to put a death sentence on my head, there was still the Thalmor that were going to end up on their doorstep come tomorrow, my being gone would leave no way out for them.

I couldn't stay though. They meant to trade me, even if they didn't know it was me they were selling.

I was out the door of my room and creeping through the shadows before I had any more time for second thoughts. As I made my way through the same entrance I had come through earlier, my mind started to race. "Where do I go from here?"

The Thalmor were hunting me, if I stayed in Alinor, there would be no such thing as a safe place to hide. They knew my name now, or soon would, and after they hit the Hive someone would tell them all they need to know about my description.

"A ship to one of the other provinces then." Valenwood would be out, and Elsweyr as well since they were members of the Dominion, there would be no safe haven there. Hammerfell maybe, but then stories I've heard of from the men at the docks don't paint a very welcoming picture for an Altmer.

The only other place I can think of that I could afford passage to is Cyrodil, I understand the Thalmor have some presence in the empire, but it was the center of the other provinces, and I could travel to nearly anywhere in Tamriel from there.

My destination set, I continued to slink through the old tunnels until I reached an exit into a back alley near the outskirts of the city. The exit wasn't the closest one to the docks, but I already knew there wasn't likely to be any ships leaving in the middle of the night. From here though, I could change clothes and make my way into the city as a stranger.

I quickly changed out my dark black wool tunic and black wool trousers I used for sneaking around since they blended in best. I change into a pair of deep brown leather trousers and a clean grey tunic. I wrapped a black cloak around myself and drew up the hood. Slinging the pack across my shoulders, I began to make my way into the city.

The guards let me through simply enough, they were there at that time of night mostly to ensure bandits didn't try to sneak in and that late coming dignitaries were seen to. The city was mostly asleep at this hour, the sun having faded, though the moons rising did bring out the night life in certain quarters of the city.

The merchant, nobles, official's quarters of the city were quite, the light only coming from the windows of those working well into the night and the occasional glow of the guard torches as they passed. The docks district however was a different story altogether, with most of the cities inns and all of the cities sailors, it was always loud and alive with some sort of brawl or song.

I needed to stay out of sight here, considering the money I had left it would have been nice to stay at one of the cheaper inns, but considering I had met most of the inn keepers at the seeder places, I couldn't risk it.

I made my way toward the other end of the docks, the inn I stopped at was where most of the more honest traders stayed. They could afford the prices and knew the owner paid the guard to keep a special eye on the tavern in case of thieves or trouble makers.

"Welcome to the Harbor's Rest" I nodded to the women at the counter as I approached her.

"I'll need a room for the night" she smiles, even as she narrows her eyes as I try to keep my hood from showing more of my face than my mouth and chin. After a tense moment she looks to her side and checks the room bookings.

"I have a room for eighty silver, that does come with a meal for tonight and the morning as well though." I had to grit my teeth as I nodded my consent to the price, eighty for a room and two meals was high. Steady honest work would be luck to make you that in two weeks, and that would have to cover the expenses of living and a family. Some trades varied ten or so silver, but nearly never more than that unless you were one of the lucky few who worked for a wealthy trader or a rich noble.

I slid my pack from my shoulder and reached into the bottom to pull out my small bag of coin, I handed her a gold septim and waited until she gave me the change from the small currency safe just below the counter. She handed me back my twenty silver which I but back into the small coin purse and then took the offered key.

"Up the stairs and turn left, it'll be the last door on your right. Would you like your dinner now, it's getting late and the cock won't be on much longer."

"Yes, thank you." I turn to find a table and wait, the only empty one is a table along the wall. I sit down and take in the room, the crowd was mostly Altmer men and women, some had the look of dignitaries on leave while others looked like merchants.

There was a group Imperials as well, they kept to themselves in a back table as they talked and laughed among each other. If they were heading back to their homeland, finding passage off Alinor might be simpler than I'd hoped.

"Here we are" the woman from the counter placed a plate of roast beef, steaming vegetables, two loaves of bread, and a bottle of alto wine with a glass on the table. "Let me or one of the servers know if you need anything else."

I know I should have thanked her, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the food in front of me. I had eaten at an inn before, but the meals were always cheap things of stew and watered ale. This was far from it, the smell was incredible as the scent of the meat and vegetables blended together perfectly.

I opened the wine and pored myself a glass, the light scent of the fruity wine mingled with the already intoxicating aroma of the food. I couldn't help but smile as I took in the small feast set out before me, "This fucking day." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the absurdity of it all, when I woke up today I thought it was going to be a quiet one. Instead I was on the run, Thalmor were chasing me, and I had to leave the province or risk my own life by staying.

"Not how the day was supposed to go…"

I leaned back into the chair and downed the glass of wine, I sigh longing for a peaceful moment as I leaned in and refilled the cup. I set to my meal with a hunger, it had been the better part of the day since I had last eaten, and even then it had only been some bread and cheap ale. The meat was soft and warm, coming apart in my mouth as I ate it. The vegetables went well with it well and all too soon I had cleared the plate.

Now I was simply leaning back, drinking what was left of the wine and munching on the loaf of bread. A bard had come to stand beside the dining areas hearth, his voice drifted over the room, silencing much of the conversations and leaving the inn peacefully still.

I don't know whether it was the wine or the bard, but I failed to notice the man walking through the doors until he stood in front of my table.

"Hello, Elander"

I looked up to see the stranger, a tall Altmer with greying hair and tired green eyes. He looked at me as if he was seeing a ghost, it took a moment to place him. He was the man outside of the physician's house, the one I had seen in the brief moment I'd turned back.

He seemed to have noticed the change in my posture as I recognized him, I leaned back and placed my hand at the hilt of the dagger at the back of my waist. He smiled slightly at the movement and pulled out the chair across from mine.

Letting out a tired huff as a sat, the worry in my eyes must have been easily seen, because he let small chuckle as he motioned for a passing waitress. "A meal and ale please", she told him it would be ten silver and he swiftly handed it to her from one of the many pockets on his blackened leather armor.

"Who are you?" I could barely hold the question in until the waitress was out of ear shot. His expression turned serious as he leaned in, "You look just like your grandfather."

I could feel every muscle in my body tense at the admission, the idea of having a grandfather was startling enough, but to be told I looked like some mysterious family member I never thought to exist...this day was already wearing me too thin for this.

It felt like getting a piece to a puzzle you didn't know needed solving. The man hadn't answered my question though and I wasn't about to let myself get sidetracked, he could be lying.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Kalin" his voice drops down low, seemingly afraid of being heard by any of the inn's patrons. "We've been trying to find you for a very long time." He shook his head lightly at the thought of it, "I was a friend your grandfather and your mother, though that was all a long time ago."

He was interrupted as the waitress returned with a similar plate of meat and vegetables and a tankard of ale. He nodded his thanks and downed nearly half the tankard before sitting it back down.

"It was two hundred years ago when your mother went missing, she disappeared when the crystal tower fell." Kalin's eyes turn sad and his face grew grim, "we sorted through the rubble when the oblivion gates had finally shut. We found your grandfather among the defenders, we searched and searched for your mother's body, but we never found it. It took a few years, but we finally found someone form the day it fell that remembered her. She had left just in time, she wouldn't leave until the last group of refuges had gotten out."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I hadn't meant to speak then, I was honestly surprised that I actually could. The chance to hear about a family that I had never known was enthralling, but I couldn't stand to listen to the heart ache in his voice any longer, it was starting to bring out my own.

"Because I need you to understand that I am not here to hurt you, I need you to understand that I am trying to save you." The look in Kalin's eyes was so filled with pleading, hoping that I wouldn't simply dismiss him here and now.

I wanted to, I couldn't deny that I had the urge to call him crazy, to tell him that he had the wrong man, and put an end to the conversation.

"I can't tell you everything right now. I wouldn't have told you so much with so many ears around us if the situation wasn't so dire." He downed the last of his ale, slamming the cup down with a little more for than needed.

"There's more then?" I needed to know if there was, he had answers to questions I had long convinced myself to let go, but those questions were back now, and with a vengeance. I wanted my answers, but his eyes had replaced the sorrowful look with one of a grim sort of determination, He was going to try and "save" me, whether I wanted to let him or not.

"Yes, there is more." He leaned further into his chair, leaving barely a foot of distance between us. "A history dating back beyond the first era, but I can't get into any of it here. There are too many ears that can't be trusted, too many among man and mer that would sell you to the Thalmor for more gold than many would see in a lifetime. When we're away from Alinor, I will tell you what I can, I swear to you."

"You have my mother's letter don't you?" I remember the physician telling him that she had left him a letter and her things, and that the physician had kept his word and kept them safe.

Kalin nodded, gesturing toward the small leather bag next to him on the floor. "I'll give you the bag and the letter once we reach open water. Until then, it only puts you in more danger having them on your person."

I wanted to object, it was my letter after all. I could try and steal it, but I had seen his skills and he was just as good if not better a thief than I am, though something told me he wouldn't share my deficiency with weapons.

Can I trust him?

No, but do I really have a choice now? The answer was unfortunately simple, "I'll travel with you, at least until we get somewhere other than Alinor. I won't promise anything other than that until you tell me the rest of what you're hiding."

Kalin smiled as his shoulders slumped in relief, "Thank you". His words were soft like a prayer, I had to wonder if they were meant for me, or someone else.

I nodded back, "We won't be able to get a ship till morning, I was going to talk to those Imperials at the table over there about booking passage on their ship. You were at the Physician's house, you know that that Justiciar is hunting me, so we can't afford to stay in Firsthold very long."

Kalin face grew serious, his eyes grim and the corners of his lips pulled into a ruthful smirk. "You are wrong I'm afraid, we don't have any time to stay at all. If we don't leave tonight, then we are already dead men."

He must have registered that confusion in my face because he chuckled a bit, "By morning they will have already raided those sewers I trailed you back to after your run form the physician's house. Then they will seal the gates, send parties after anyone that has left in the night, and close 'the ports, trapping everyone here until you're found. If we don't leave tonight, then we're already caught."

I hadn't thought of them closing the ports to search, Firsthold was a major trade hub for Alinor, and that would mean trapping all of the trade ships here in harbor. The losses in coin alone, not to mention spoiled cargo, disrupted trade routes, and the confinement of foreign traders and diplomats would have horrible consequences.

"Just why do they want me so badly? This much effort for a simple orphaned bastard doesn't make sense."

"You are not a bastard!" Kalin's voice rose with his anger, many of the nearby patrons briefly turned to see the commotion. When they saw that neither Kalin nor myself were about to start a brawl they turned back to their own conversations.

"You are not a bastard" Kalin stated again, this time his voice low, and much of the anger having faded away. "You have a name and a history, you simply haven't had the chance to learn them, but you are no bastard."

"Where do we go from here?" I didn't have the energy left to fight with him after the day I had had. If he said I wasn't, I would give him the benefit of the doubt until I heard him out.

Getting out of Firsthold was priority, answers would have to wait, for now.

"We go talk to those Imperials you mentioned, let's see if enough coin can convince them to leave harbor a bit ahead of schedule. They're drinking light for sailors just into port, so I imagine they were already planning on leaving at first light." He stood and I followed suit, grabbing my bag and walking with him over to the Imperials drinking and laughing among themselves.

"Excuse me gentleman, would you mind if we joined you for a moment?" Kalin voice interrupted their cheerful conversation. I could see their expression's harden as they turned to look at us. The man at the center studied us, an Imperial with olive toned skin, hard green eyes, and short cropped hair.

"Take a seat" his answer seemed to have come as a surprise to the men around him, they were looking to him with raised brows and deep frowns. "Thank you" Kalin responded simply as we pulled unused chairs from nearby tables. He waited for me and Kalin to sit before he continued, "Now what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"We were interested in where your ship may be sailing out too?"

The man looked over Kalin for a long moment, "We sail from here to the Imperial City at first light."

Kalin thought about the destination for a moment, I could see a brief glimpse hesitation on his face before it passed. "Any chance I could convince you to leave with two extra passenger's, and a few hours ahead of schedule.

The Imperial was quite for a time before he answered, "What are you two running from, and will it be a danger to my crew?"

Kalin look momentarily taken aback, the ship's Captain had asked more openly then it seemed Kalin had expected. "So long as I don't answer the first, there will be no problem with the second. I can tell you that we have committed no crime the Empire would deem punishable."

The Captain smiled slyly at the last part, "It will be expensive, and I will make no stops before the Imperial City, so if you were thinking of getting off early, I would recommend not getting on at all." He leaned in, looking us both in the eyes before carrying on, "And if at any time a Dominion ship threatens the lives on my crew, I will trade you over to protect them in heartbeat. Am I understood?"

"We understand" Kalin answered quickly, "As for the price, will forty gold cover the price of the both us?"

"Yes, but it'll be another ten for early departure." The Captain smirked, he knew we were in no position to dictate the terms here. I could see Kalin's fist clench in his lap as he nodded his agreement. "Good, men get our things from the rooms and get back to the ship, it seems we're heading out a bit ahead of schedule."

They grumbled about their drinks and something that sounded like "damn ruddy elves" as they went to retrieve their gear from up the stairs. "Don't worry about Rendly" the Imperial said, having seen my face scrunch up consternation at the insult. "We're all ex-legion, some grudges are harder to leave behind than others."

He rose and motioned for us to follow, "We'll head out now and they'll meet us at the ship."

"Thank you for taking us on" I said to the Captain as we walked through the docks district, it was more lit than the other quarters at this time of night. The various torches lit the harbor to illuminate any would be thieves that attempted to get aboard a ship in the dead of night.

He shrugged and turned to smile at me, "Fifty gold and a chance to get some Thalmor's breaches in a twist, that's worth losing a night of good wine." He let out a loud barking laugh, "Even if only just."

We continued to walk on in silence as we passed the long line of docked ships. The Imperial finally stopped in front of a large galley, three masts stood high and proud in the night air, an Imperial flag flying at the top of each. "Welcome gentleman, to the Red Morning"

"It's a beautiful ship" I told him as I looked over the shadowed form of the vessel, even in the low light given by the torches on the dock I could see the engraving lining the vessels hull.

"That she is lad" he said proudly before bellowing up at his men to let down the gangplank. "Now gentle man, before I let you on this fair vessel of mine. I do believe I'll be needing that fifty gold septims we agreed upon."

He said it with a small sly smile, though I felt the threat behind the words. I hoped when Kalin agreed to the price that he had that much coin on him, because if not, this was going to turn dangerous quickly.

"Of course" Kalin pulled to small coin sacks from the larger pockets on his armor, he took ten out and then tossed them to the Captain.

The Captain caught them with a frighteningly quick reflex, weighing them in this hand before barking out another quick laugh. "Never doubted two fine high elves as yourselves for a moment."

As he finished speaking, the gangplank lowered and the Captain moved to the side and extended his hand toward the ship, "Permission to come aboard, granted."


	3. Blood and Magic

_**I own no copyrighted material present in the story.**_

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We had been at sea for two days now, and my patience for Kalin's reluctance to answer my questions had reaches an end.

I left the small cabin the ships' Captain, an Imperial whose name I had found out was Xuinius, had given us to stay in over the journey. The ship had turned out to be a trading vessel dealing mostly in exotic silks and spices from all the provinces, before returning with the cargo to trade at the Imperial City.

When I had asked the Captain whether there was much profit in it, he had joked that our "addition" to his profits meant that this venture was sure to be his most profitable yet. He told me that our passage fee had been as much as they had spent on supplies and expenses at the various harbors through the hole of their expedition, so there would be no dents in their profits this time around.

For that kind of coin, I can understand his lack of reluctance in taking two fugitives aboard.

"Kalin" I called out when I caught sight of him at the ship railing, spending his time watching the waters as he had day's prier. "It's time we talked Kalin, you promised me answers as soon as we were out to open water. That was two days ago, and I'm done waiting."

He turned his head and stared at me for a long moment, I could see the debate raging on in his mind. "I know you want me to trust you, and it's about time you give me a reason why I should."

That seemed to put an end to his conflict, he sighed heavily. I know he was tired, but I had waited long enough for answers. "Alright, follow me."

He made for the aft of the ship, it was always empty around mid-day, with clear skies most of the sailors were working on up keep of the cargo and making sure we kept coarse. When he got to the aft railing he sat down while leaning against it, he let out another long sigh and motioned for me to sit as well.

"I don't know the entire story Elander, only the basics since I never needed to know any of the big secrets, for those you'll have to speak to the Master of the Order."

"What order?" I interrupted him when he paused to take a breath.

"I'll get to that, but first we should probably start with the simplest thing, your name." I could feel my whole body tense up, my whole life I was a bastard, I never had a name to call my own.

For Altmer, the last name is a mark of our heritage, to live without one…is to be reduced to nothing in Altmer culture. The chance to finally have a name of my own, it was a dream I had long since abandoned.

"Your family name would make you Elander Galerion, son of Silesia Galerion, last of his line."

"Elander Galerion" I had heard that name somewhere before, one of the books I had read maybe. "I feel like I should know my family name from somewhere, but I can't place it."

"That's fair enough, most people couldn't if they weren't either historians or mages."

Mages, that's why the name sounded so familiar, "Vanus Galerion, I'm related to the man who founded the mages guild?"

Kalin smile was a kind one, he hadn't seemed to think I would take his words without some sort of explanation. "You are a direct descendant from his son, and every child directly thereafter. I believe you are five or so generations down from him, but yes, you are his last direct descendant and the only heir remaining."

"Heir?"

"Yes, there is a family manor in the hills near the capital city of Dusk. Your family has lived there since the dawn of the third era, hidden away from those who wished them harm. It is yours now, though because it is in Alinor, it'll be a few centuries before it's even remotely safe to return."

I had a home, a family manor that was mine. Though the Thalmor had driven me away from it before I ever got to step foot inside, but even if I never stepped inside, it was still part of a family legacy that I had never known was mine.

The thought of it all left me with a kind of dull ache inside. I had a name, a legacy, but I was the last, I was just as alone as ever.

"There are some more figures in history that you can count as kin as well." His remark drew me from my sudden melancholy, there was more to learn about my family, even if they were gone.

If I had a legacy to carry, I wanted to know all I could about it. "Vanus Galerion had only one son, Zurin Arctus Galerion, though history knows him as simply Zurin Arctus, the first Imperial battle-mage to Tiber Septim."

"I thought Zurin Arctus was an Imperial?"

Kalin simply shrugged, "History remembers certain details as it is most convenient to the ones who write it. Though, history leaving out that his family name was Galerion, was Zurin's own doing. He wanted to make his name outside of his father's shadow. He ended up dying after Tiber Septim betrayed him, his only son was raised by his father after that."

"I don't understand, Tiber Septim killed Zurin Arctus? I thought he died in battle."

"If afraid I only know the details that you grandfather shared, the rest you'll have to wait until you meet the Master of the Order to have explained. My role was to guard your family, I was never cut out to be a historian."

"This order you keep mentioning, what is it?" I was still reeling from everything I was being told, being descended from two of history's most powerful mages wasn't something easy to digest.

"When Vanus Galerion founded the Imperial Mages Guild, he also created the Order of the Lamp, an order devoted to the protection of the mages guild. Though beneath that, we were changed with the protection and care of the Galerion line, for as long it carried forward."

Kalin turned a sad smile toward me, and then looked back over the water. "We haven't done the best job since the Crystal Tower fell, but you're still here, and as long as you live, we still have our chance to redeem our failures."

I can't help but feel Nirn is a strange place, a few days back I was a sneak thief for a gang, my life constantly on the line. Now I have an entire order dedicated to keeping me alive.

Though their recent history makes me wonder how much faith I should really put in the notion.

"Zurin's son Andric, however, could be considered the dark horse in your family's history." Kalin stood and stretched his back, then leaned against the railing, I stood and started to pace, trying to work off some of the anxious energy, all these rapid revelations were building up.

"Why?" I asked when he seemed to have gotten lost in his own thoughts, he refocused on me, and I could see him begin to choose his words.

"I probably shouldn't have mentioned it, I should have left it for the when we reached the order, too late for that now I suppose…Andric married someone he ought not to have."

Kalin paused again, seemingly trying to find a roundabout way of saying whatever it was he was trying to avoid. He seemed to have given up on avoiding it though, his shoulders dropped and he sighed. "He married the only daughter of Mannimarco the King of Worms, which was further complicated when her father and his grandfather ended up killing each other."

I stared at him, trying to gauge whether or not he had been joking. The grandson of Vanus Galerion and the daughter of Mannimarco, the sheer ridiculousness of the idea was enough to make me scuff at the notion. "Wait…are you telling me that I am related to the king of Worms?"

"Your grandfather was his grandson, Andric had three children, though all but your grandfather died childless. So yes, you are related to the King of Worms. His last heir in fact, though I'm not sure what would be left that wasn't destroyed by the generations of the Mages Guild after his original body was destroyed."

"Anything else I should know? Any Dwemer or Daedra I happen to be related to?" I was related to Vanus Galerion, Zurin Arctus, and Mannimarco. I'm not sure how many more of these little revelations I can take today.

"No, no Dwemer or daedra. Your grandfather spent much of his life studying restoration magic, and while you mother was only forty when she disappeared she was already a master enchanter." Kalin's face whoever turned pinched as he seemed to ponder his next words, "There is one more thing about your family's line that you should know…who the first of your line was."

I blinked at him in confusion, "Wasn't Vanus Galerion the first?"

"No, I'm afraid not" Kalin ran his hand through his nearly silver hair, "do you know what Vanus Galerion's name was for most of his childhood?"

I shook my head, I barely knew anything about the man, learning anything about history was a luxury I simply rarely had the chance to indulge in back in the Hive. It seems now I should have spent more time with books, and less sneaking around pilfering.

"When Vanus Galerion was a child his name was Trechtus, he was adopted by people who would raise him when a women, heavy with child was found nearly frozen in the winter's snow. She lived just long enough to give birth, but passed quickly after, the people that took him in raised him as their own."

"When Vanus had finished his training with the Psijic Order, he eventually followed the clues left by the little possessions his birth mother had when she died, and they led him to the northern shores of Skyrim." Kalin folded his hands behind his back, his brow furrowed in worry over his next admission. "His father was a mage, by the name of Shalidor."

"Shalidor" I may not have known much about the history involved with the name, but I knew enough to feel the overwhelming disbelief crash over me. "Shalidor, the greatest mage in history, that Shalidor?"

"Whether he was the greatest in history is a matter for debate, but yes."

"How?" I may know little about the history if Vanus Galerion, and even less about Shalidor, but you would think there would be some mention about the two of them being related.

"I'm afraid I do not know, I've only been able to tell you this much because of the stories your grandfather told me, and the tales I listened to him spin for your mother when she was a child." Kalin gave a small shrug, indicating that he couldn't help not being able to answer. "Once we get to the Orders' sanctuary in Skyrim, the historians or the Orders Master will be able to explain all of this far better than I can."

I was up and pacing now, just how much was I supposed to take on faith, this man was a stranger, yes he had helped save my life. I can't deny that I wouldn't have gotten out of Firsthold had Kalin not shown up. The gold he had to pay to get us on this ship was far and away more than I could have ever paid.

The five gold I had left wouldn't have been enough to get me on the ship, it was fifty for both of us and I could never have gotten twenty five gold for myself in time to flee. That's assuming the Thalmor didn't trap me in a locked down city first.

Then a thought struck me, and I couldn't help the hysterical laughter that followed.

"Elander?" I could hear the concern in his voice, he moved toward me, hands out stretched to his side in an attempt to show he meant no harm.

"Do you want to know something funny, something so down right fucked up it'll make you want to laugh." I paused as I took in his expression, he looked worried now, like I might try to bolt off into the water and swim home, just run away from it all.

"Would I ever be able to run far enough from all of this?" I'm not sure whether the thought made me want to laugh or cry.

"The funny thing about all of this Kalin, is that I can't even use magic. I tried when I was little, a boy they had bought knew a spell to conjure a ball of light. Everyone else could do the spell, but not me. I tried and tried for days, figured that even if I am a waist at weapons, I could make up for it with magic. I was wrong, I've never even heard of another Altmer that couldn't even do some magic."

I could see the gears turning in Kalin's mind as the shock of my words slowly waned away. "Tell me something" he started as he moved back away from me, seemingly believing I was no longer a danger to myself. "Did anyone ever show you how to merge your magica into yourself?"

"What?"

"I'm guessing you've heard that everyone can do magic, even if only a little." Kalin waited until I nodded before he carried on, "The saying is true, however, that is because most have so little magica that it is incorporated into their bodies at birth."

"For those that are born with more magica than the body can take in by itself, things are a bit different, they have to incorporate their magica themselves. Normally, this would be done when the adults around you realized you couldn't do any magic, I guess no one around you thought to try. I am sorry for that."

They had known, every time one of them had made a joke about how useless I was for being a failure in magic and weapons training, they had known. I could use magic, I just needed someone to show me the first step, and they had all left me stumbling blind.

"Will you show me?" I hadn't meant to speak the thought aloud, but I couldn't help but hope he would agree.

Kalin watched me for what felt like an eternity before he slowly nodded his consent, he motioned for me to sit down in front of him. "I have always felt more at home with a weapon in my hand than with a spell, I had to merge my magica, however, as I had just enough to stop my body from doing it on its own. I am telling you this, so that you understand that I can't guarantee this will work, you may have to wait until meet a mage from the Order to show properly. If you do it now and you fail to connect your mana to your body's natural flow, the backlash will be painful. Even if you do succeed, there may still be some discomfort involved afterwards."

"What do you mean by discomfort?" I had thought Kalin was a mage, but then again, I had never seen a mage with as much armor as he had bound himself in.

"The after effects will differ depending on by how much magica you have, I only felt a momentary bout of dizziness afterwards. Your mother though, had a terrible headache for nearly a week after, your grandfather told me it was much the same for himself."

I had to fight back a pang of jealousy over easily he spoke of them, like they were as real to him as they were empty imaginings to me.

"I understand" I just wanted to try, to have the chance to hold something that was obviously a precious thing in my family. If magic was really such a strong piece of what made my family what it was, then I wanted that connection at least, something I could hold to make it more real.

"Alright" Kalin's voice was low, he wouldn't deny me such a simple request, not while he was still trying to earn my trust. I could hear it in his voice though, he felt this was a bad idea, and was only helping because he couldn't see a way out of it. "Focus your mind on your heartbeat, let the rhythm of it calm you."

Kalin's words became muffled after that, small sounds whispering over the peaceful surroundings. "Imagine a light glowing where your heart is, pulsing brighter with every beat."

I could see the imagine easy enough, thought where I thought the light would be warm and welcoming, it was instead a bright, intense light that grew more blinding with every pulse.

"Reach out to the light, let it flow into you. Whatever you do, don't let the bridge between yourself and the light sever. Don't let go until you feel the warmth of the light in every corner of body."

I reached out to the blinding light and gentle grabbed hold, but there was no "gentle warmth" to it. No, it was like holding onto molten lava. The burning heat didn't flow over me rapidly like I thought it would, no it crept over me slowly, taking a lifetime with every inch of me it consumed.

I would scream, but there was no sound in this place now. Only me and what the molten flames burned away, I nearly let go, thought it would be better to never know magic than to suffer this pain.

I couldn't though, this magic was mine, and I wouldn't let it go over some pain…I could handle pain.

The molten flames spread out from the center of my chest and into my limps, the slow pace was maddening, I couldn't help but wonder if there would be anything left of me when this was finished.

Would I have my magic, or would it have left me little more than a pile of ashes.

When it had finally spread into the tips of my fingers and toes I had thought it was done, that I had manager to live though this terrible pain. I was wrong, the worst was saved for last as the burning began to travel up my neck. The pain was just as unbearable as before, but the moment it touched my face the pain wiped any thoughts I might have otherwise had.

It burned slower now than before, the impossibly slow pace of the molten fire had slowed even further, making sure every piece of me it touched was charred to perfection. When it got to my eyes though, it felt as if they were being gauged out a hundred times over.

I had heard the screams as Gabe had tortured captives for information, now I could understand the pain that had echoed through those tunnels.

After an eternity of burning the pain finally ended, and then I felt what Kalin had described, the feeling of having the warmth in every corner of myself. In that perfect peaceful moment, the fires subsided, leaving behind only a comforting glow, the world bathed in that bright light faded to darkness around me.

* * *

I was thrown back off of the ship, barely catching the railing before tumbling in to the water below. I pull up over the railing too see the cause of the percussion, Elander was wreathed in arcane energy. Raw magica swam in the air around him, his body seemed to glow and the magic around him pulsed like a heartbeat.

"What in Oblivion is going on?" The ship's Captain came running up the small steps that lead to the raised platform at the back of the ship that had served as the stage for my and Elander's conversation.

He and the three men following him had their swords drawn, probably thinking that some pirate had managed to catch them unawares from behind. They all froze when Elander came into sight, his body still wrapped in pure magica and the air around him pulsing.

"Peace Captain" I raised my hands to show I was no threat, I could fight them off myself if we were on land, but on a ship, in the middle of open water, and days from any kind of land, diplomacy was my best option. "There has been a small development, but nothing dangerous."

I was lying, for all I knew, Elander could be about to explode from all the magica circling around him. I had never seen anything like this, I had told Elander the truth when I had said the worst reaction I had ever heard of was a severe headache for the next few days, but this was both incredible and horrifying.

I stole a glance at his still form, the magica in the air was pulsing slightly faster now and I could make out less and less of his features as the seconds moved by and the magic covering him grew brighter over his skin.

"Nothing dangerous?" The Captain looked momentarily taken aback by my words before the shock of the sight before him quickly turned to suspicion and anger. "I did not take you onto my ship, Elf, so that you could burn it to the ground with some fool magic gone wrong."

The Captain, a man I had seen little of since our departure from Firsthold, placed the point of his blade to my heart and said, "I warned you what would happen if you brought harm to my ship or threat to my sailors."

The eyes had a cold edge to them that told me he would kill use both if my answer wasn't quick and satisfying, I had nearly forgotten he and his crew were ex-legion, fighting my way out of this simply was to untenable.

"I was teaching him to access his magic." I waved over to Elander, hoping that the men wouldn't see him see as a potential threat if they understood it was not some spell gone wrong.

"I swear he is no threat to your ship", the Captain looked unconvinced by my answer. His weapon had yet to lower from my heart and his eyes were still studying me while his men were carefully circling Elander.

"Captain!"

I turned as the Captain did to see the raw magica in the air around Elander's sitting form had begun to pulse rapidly, glowing nearly blinding as it continued. Then for a moment all was still, the pulsing froze and the air around us seemed to hang heavy in its stillness, as if awaiting some great moment to set the world back into pace.

Then the silence ended with a resounding "crack" as we were all tossed from our feet as the once pulsing magica was now a great pillar, stretching up into the sky for several moments before is shrank quickly back to Elander's sitting form. He swayed slightly, before crashing into the ship's planks beneath him.

I got up and ran to him, the ground around him was burned in a perfect circle the same size around as the now faded pillar. I turned him over and placed my ear to his chest, the beating of his heart was weak and shallow, but it was still there and that was all that mattered.

I pooled what little knowledge I had of restoration magic and cast my spell, hoping that what I knew of healing would be enough to ensure his survival.

"What in the Nine just happened?" The sailor that had been nearest to Elander asked as he stood up, his legs shaking and light leather armor looking slightly scorched.

"That is what I would like to know?" The Captain said standing up as well, the look in his eyes told me that he was only holding back from killing me where I knelt by a thin tether of restraint.

"He has come into his magic, he is no threat to you or your ship."

"That was what you said before he conjured a pillar of fire that just left a ring of scorched wood the size of a small wagon on my ship's deck. Not to mention that he just nearly burned us all alive." His grip tightened on the blade he still held in his grasp, though he seemed to dislike the notion of killing us when we were not even trying to defend ourselves.

I was too busy pumping all of the magica I had left in the restoration spell to even try and grab my blades. He watched Elander for a long moment, I was about to plead for our place on the ship, protecting his life was more important that protecting my pride, but the Captain raised his hand to motion for me to stop when I tried to talk.

"Take them both to their quarters"

The men around him immediately moved to comply, one grabbed Elander by the feet and another under his arms and lifted him up to carry him back. When I stood to follow the Captain grabbed my shoulder to have me wait.

"He is to stay in your cabin until we reach the Imperial City, do you understand?"

"I understand, Captain"

"If he causes so much as a foul wind to blow on the way there, I will personally toss him over the side of the ship."

I give a curt nod as I turn to follow the retreating backs of the sailors, half way to the door leading down into the ships quarters I hear, "And I'll be expecting payment to fix my damn ship!"

I arrived at the door to the small cabin that had been given to us the first night aboard and after moving aside for the sailors to pass I moved into the room. He was breathing easier now, slow quiet breaths that made him seem peaceful. I couldn't help but remember the few decades I had watched over Silesia, though Elander reminded me little over her.

She was always a hot head, always looking to get in the middle of some adventure, even if she had to make up her own. No, Elander reminded me of his grandfather. Marin had been a good man, but unless you were close to him, he would have seemed cold and distant.

"I wonder who his father is?" Silesia had been gone for nearly two centuries, was she imprisoned? Did she run away and decide never to come back? Had she married, or was his father a lover she had meant to leave behind?

Too many questions, and she is dead now regardless of what the answers may be. She was gone now, but she did leave behind a piece of herself in him, I saw her in him when he smile at the inn when he thought no one was looking.

"At least her smile lived on."

I couldn't help but feel foolish for the comfort the thought brought me. I walked to Elander, checking on his condition was more important than reminiscing on a past that couldn't be changed. The air around him still felt charged, as if I were standing next to a magica font at the Arcane University.

Elander himself had changed, and that was the most worrying part of all this. I could write off the magica in the air around him as a residual effect of what had happened earlier, but I couldn't say the same for the rest. The changes were minor at least, the color of his hair had gone from a usual altmer sandy blonde to a deep blood red.

His feature at least remained the same, his cheek bones were still high and his face still had the same almond shape that only Altmer truly possess. I had checked his pupils for a response…and found them glowing in a vibrant blue I had only ever seen from raw magica. For whatever else may have been affected, I can only wait until he wakes, to see what else had changed.


	4. Welcome to Skyrim

**I own nothing of the licensed content involved in this story.**

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The mountain path felt frigid, the rags my travel clothes had been reduce too did nothing to protect me from the biting chill of the early autumn in the Jerall Mountains.

A week on foot from Bruma, hounded like an animal by the Divines damned Thalmor. Kalin had said there was an old Lamp Knight safe house in the outskirts just north of Bruma, we should have just kept on walking.

The safe house was easy enough to find, Kalin had taught me a bit about the order supposedly sworn to my family. Their locations were normally marked by the symbol of a lamp over crossed swords.

The old wood and iron doors built into the cold cellar of a burnt down farmhouse was easy enough to find once he had told me what to look for. We had entered slowly through the darkness, balls of magelight quickly winking into existence in our palms.

Over the last two months Kalin had set to work teaching me some of the more basic spells, flames and frostbite, lesser ward, calm, the basic spells for healing myself and others. I had learned quickly, at least that was what Kalin had said, by his estimation I had learned in two months what took most beginner's years.

I had taken a great deal of pride in that.

I've never been anything more than a danger to myself with a weapon, but magic came as easy to me as breathing. Though learning the spell from the illusion school felt like pulling teeth, I had spent too many years grounded in the belief that reality couldn't be altered, Illusion was apparently the hardest school for anyone that started learning as an adult.

There hadn't been anytime for lessons in Alteration or Conjuration magic, and he refused to answer any of my questions on Necromancy. He had told me that the only places where it was preformed legally were Skyrim and Orsinium, and the orcs were even less friendly to outsiders than the Nords.

Decay was the first smell that had greeted us, we had turned the final corner and come face-to-face with what could only be described as a massacre. The bodies of at least twenty dead were strewn about throughout the large room, they were little more than skeletons now.

Scorch marks, that I had come to associate with fire spells, marred the walls and in some cases the bodies themselves, some of these poor souls had been burned alive.

"No…"

Kalin looked ready to fall to his knees, I was tempted to drag him up the stairs then and there, it was too dangerous to stay. If these people had died fighting, then it meant, more likely than not, that the Thalmor knew about this place, and they wouldn't be far behind.

I had hoped they would give up the chase as the docks of Firsthold, it had been a fool's hope.

There had been a squad of Thalmor waiting for us as the docks of the Imperial City, we were forced to escape through a smugglers hatch built into the side of the ship. It had taken the last of both of our gold to get the ship Captain's help.

Normally, I could have just stolen the food we needed for the trip to Skyrim, but with the hounds nipping at our heels there had been neither the time nor the inclination, on either of our parts, to leave them a trail to follow.

Of course that meant that we were both half-starved after the two weeks spent walking to Bruma, if I had known then that I would have to spend another week running through iced over mountains as well, I would have thieved to my heart's content.

The sound of muffled steps on the stone stairs behind us was all it took to snap Kalin out of his stupor, he had quickly squared his shoulders and looked me in the eyes, I didn't like resolve I'd seen there.

"Keep north through the Pale Pass, once you get into Skyrim find your way to the College in Winter Hold. The Arch-mage is a Dunmer named Savos Aren, tell him who you are and he'll do what he can to get you into contact with whatever is left of the Order."

"I can stay and fight Kalin, if I leave you here alone…"

We both knew what it meant, the Thalmor weren't known for mercy, and Kalin wouldn't let himself be taken alive.

"I swore centuries ago to protect your family from harm. I failed your father, I failed your mother…I will not fail you."

I had seen people die of course, I had even seen friends die, but I had never cried over them. Life wasn't kind to ones who cared. I got used to death, but even still, it was all I could do to bit back the tears in eyes at the pure conviction I had seen in his.

He would die for me, no bitter feelings of getting the short end of the stick, no resentment for having to make such a sacrifice…just the earnest desire to see me safe, and the willingness to pay any price to see it done.

"When you see an opening to run, take it."

He placed a hand on my shoulder then, a serene smile spreading across his features, "I will tell your mother of the man you have become, she will be so proud of you, Elander."

Then he was gone, up the stairs only a moment before the roar of fire and the screams of men wrong out.

I Gritted my teeth and willed my feet to get moving, I knew I was likely to only get in the way. Thalmor were trained to fight and kill, I had only just started learning, and while my magic might be deeper and much stronger than theirs, I had no experience in fighting with it, and only a few basic spells at my disposal.

My ignorance has just gotten Kalin killed…

I got to the top of the stairs, moving around the three dead Thalmor who had been burned alive. I saw Kalin just outside of the burnt down farmhouse, holding back the combined might of six more Thalmor, I could see the soldiers running up to the scene, ten more Altmer in elven armor with blades draw would see an end to this quickly.

"Now!"

Kalin's scream had broken through my hesitation, my body moved on its own, even as my mind screamed to turn around and fight. I would die, but at least I could say I had tried.

Tears streamed down my eyes as I fled like a coward, I don't remember when I had finally stopped running, the sun had gone down and come up again before my body collapsed. I came to around near nightfall, stood up, and stared moving towards the mountains.

That was five days ago, and I'm not certain I wouldn't have preferred to let the Thalmor kill me instead of the damned cold.

Pale Pass had been simple enough to find, but the Imperial soldiers guarding it had forced me to go through the rough terrain to get around them. Two days spent lost in the wilderness…

I was already starting to hate Skyrim.

I had finally stumbled upon the pass proper this morning, having at least passably flat ground to walk on improved my mood considerably. Now if I could just fix the whole, "surviving on questionable berries and likely poisonous mushrooms" part, the trip would only be mostly miserable.

"Stop where you are!"

I hate my life…did I spit on some Divines' shrine or something.

Slowly, as to hopefully not get run-through, I turned to see a woman with her hand on the hilt of the blade at her waist. Two other men waited on her orders with bows drawn and arrows aimed tightly on me. They were all wearing matching blue jerkins with chainmail and furs covering any open area, Skyrim's militia maybe…

I swear, my life was safer as a thief.

"What is a high elf doing wondering the Pale Pass alone?" She studies me closely, though it gave me the chance to do the same. She doesn't look any older than myself, though her emerald eyes are clearly that of a soldiers, giving her gaze a weight beyond her years. Her blond hair reminded me of the beaches of Firsthold, her skin, like the Nords beside her, was as pale as the snow at our feet.

She was beautiful, and likely about to kill me, but beautiful all the same. The only blemish on her at all was the scar running from just above her left ear and cutting down to stop at her chin, it looked like someone had thought to take her head off, I don't imagine they survived the effort.

"A Thalmor spy most likely, should put an arrow in him and be done with it." The soldier to her right barked out as the draw sting on his bow gave out a groan of tension as he drew it further back.

"Do I look like a Thalmor to you?" It was a fair question, because I have a problem believing any Thalmor would be willing to be reduced to my state.

The woman looked me over for a long moment, I could see the internal debate raging, I didn't look like a Thalmor, but there was no way they could be sure. "If you're not a Thalmor spy, what are you doing alone in the Pale Pass?"

I was about to answer when the sounds of battle cries echoed from all around us, more soldiers in the same blue armor came running in, though they were being chased by Imperial soldiers. I was about to ask what was going on when an arrow struck me through the shoulder, I was thrown off of my footing and toppled to the ground, I felt a sharp pain from the impact, and then everything quickly went black.

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The motion of the rocking was the first thing I noticed, I opened my eyes slowly, the pounding in my head and the sudden bout of nausea had me biting my lip to keep from dry heaving stomach acid. After a while the nausea faded and the pounding in my head reduced to a dull throb.

I opened my eyes again, it took a few moments for my vision to clear up, the first thing I noticed was the burley Nord with the concerned frown sat across from me. The next thing I noticed was the fact that I was seated in a wagon with a few other Nords. My hands were bound as well…

"You're finally awake then" I looked back to the Nord in front of me, "You've been out since they loaded us up, you picked a bad day to visit Skyrim high elf. Got caught in that Imperial ambush with the rest of us, and the thief the divines weren't merciful enough to gag."

"Damn you Stormcloaks, empire was nice and lazy before you started kickin up a fuss." The thief spat at the "Stormcloaks" feet and sneered, "If it hadn't been for you, I'd have that horse and be halfway to Hammerfell by now."

The "Stormcloak" glared coldly, but made no other move toward the man. "We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."

"Shut up back there, or I'll gag the lot of you." I looked to my left and saw the Imperial soldier driving the wagon, I get the feeling this wasn't the first time he's had to say that.

"What's wrong with him huh?" the thief used his foot to nudge the man seated to my right, he was dressed in finer armor than the plain blue armor made of leather and chain like the soldier across from me. His armor was fine leathers and furs, the visible metal had a luster I had never seen before, almost like a cross between hard steel and sleek silver. His hair was matted in dried dirt, cuts and gashes littered every part of him that was visible, and unlike the rest of us, he really was gaged.

"Watch your foot lest I cut it off!" The Nord across from me visible bristled at the disrespectful action of the thief, "You're speaking of Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."

The thief's skin drained of what little color it carried, the horror of his situation seemingly making itself know. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm…you're the leader of the rebellion. If they've captured you…of gods! Where are they taking us?"

The "Stormcloak" sighed tiredly, "I don't know where we're going thief, only that the Sovngarde awaits."

I don't particularly like the sound of that, from the tone of his voice I can get a pretty clear idea of what exactly "Sovngarde" is. I didn't run to the other side of Tamriel to die now, Kalin didn't sacrifice himself for me to have it all end like this.

"Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?"

The thief had been panicking, I guess the "Stormcloak" didn't want the Imperial drivers attention back hear. Honestly though, listening to their conversation was probably the only thing keeping me myself from hysterics.

"Why do you care?"

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." It was that simple to him, because everyone should have a happy memory to cling to, when it all ends.

"Rorikstead, I used to till the farmlands there…now I wish I'd never left." The thief got a faraway look in his eyes, a lifetime of memories likely playing out in front of him.

"Finally"

We all turn at the sound of the Imperial's voice, coming over the hill, a fort city with high stone walls greets us. There's silence in the wagon as we all too quickly approach the fort, its wooden door swings open as we get closer, soldiers hold them open as pass through.

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting as ordered." I wanted to tell whatever Imperial had said that to go fuck himself with a rusty dagger.

"Good! Let's get this over with then."

"General Tullius the Military Governor, I should have known he'd have a hand in this." I looked toward the man he was staring at, an old Imperial in richly decorated armor, though it was whom he was talking to that made my blood run cold.

"An it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves, I bet they had something to do with this."

"It's wrong to compare all elves to them, Thalmor are a disease all onto themselves." All three Nords turn to me, their eyes showing their confusion at the Thalmor being badmouthed by one of their own kind. I simply held up my bound hands in answer, they all seemed to understand clearly enough at that.

I wish I hadn't raised my hands though, I had forgotten about my shoulder. The arrow had gone through my left shoulder, knocking me to the ground, and landing me in this mess to begin with. Looking down to my shoulder I could see the dried blood crusted onto the bandage haphazardly wrapped around the wound, likely the only reason they had bandaged it to start with was to make sure I lived long enough to be executed.

It's nice to see the Imperials had a sense of humor.

"This is Helgen, I used to be sweet on a girl from here." The "Stormcloak's" voice was filled with a tired resignation, "You know, it's funny but...when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

"It's a bit more, sad, than funny." He just chuckles a bit as I shake my head at the absurdity of the situation.

This was certainly not how I thought I would die, then again, I've spent a lot of my life thinking I was about to die. Maybe this is just the turnabout for all those times I got out of it by the skin of my teeth; Arkay always gets his due eventually.

"Whoa" the Imperial soldier driving the wagon pulls to a stop not far from the headsman's block, a man in black chain armor and a black hood stands next to it. I've seen this scene often enough, thought the headsmen in Firsthold only ever got the ones the Thalmor didn't want to personally make an example.

The thief begins to fidget around, trying to find any direction open enough to make a run for it. "Why are we stopping?"

"End of the line." The "Stormcloak" answers as two Imperial soldiers make their way to the end of the wagon. He stands and motions for me to do the same, "Let's go, we shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

I stand as we begin jumping down from the wagons back, "No! Wait! We're not rebels!" the thief is crying and yelling as we form a line in front the soldier doing the head count. "You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!"

"Face your death with some courage, thief."

I'd feel worse for the thief if I wasn't the one whose ear he's been wailing into. Besides, I doubt anyone would listen the stories about the innocence of someone about to be executed, especially not by someone else that's about to be executed.

The minute they put us in that wagon, we all became the same to them.

The officer next to the soldier with the list raises her hand for our attention, "Step toward the block when we call your name. One at a time!"

I hear the "Stormcloak" behind me grumble, "The Empire just loves their damn lists."

"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm" Ulfric makes his way toward the rest of the Stormcloaks, his held high and proud as he goes.

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric…" and from the weight of the words, I can tell that the "Stormcloak" means every word.

"Ralof of Riverwood" Well at least I can stop calling him "Stormcloak" now. Ralof makes his way beside Ulfric with his held just as high, seeming to dare anyone too near his Jarl.

"Lokir of Rorikstead"

"No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" the thief, finally to hysterical for commonsense to matter makes a break for the doors at the other side of the fort.

"Halt!" the Imperial officer tries to order Lokir to stop, but he's likely to far gone to hear anyone's voice let alone hers. "Archers!"

Lokir didn't even make it to the gate before five arrows skewered him from all directions. The Imperial had made her point, you could face your death with dignity or as a coward, but either way you we're all dying here today.

"Anyone else feel like running?"

I almost replied "yes" just to see what she'd do, but I'd rather keep every minute of being alive that I could, and the glee in her eyes as she watched us told me everything I needed to know about her response.

"Wait, you there." The soldier in charge of the list looks me over, "Step forward, I don't have a high elf and my list, who are you?"

"Elander…Galerion." He looked over his list again, seeming to come up empty he looked back to me, I met his gaze, I had almost forgotten about how my eyes had changed, but the visible shiver he gave told me they were much the same eerily swimming blue.

They were the only outward sign of just how much magic was really at my figure tips, yet my ignorance had left me bound and helpless.

"You're not with the Thalmor Embassy, are you, high elf? No, that can't be right...they'd have pulled you out of the wagons if that were the case." The soldier turns to his officer, "Captain, what's to be done, he's not on the list?" His voice was almost hopeful, it wasn't hard to tell that he didn't feel comfortable with sending people to die like this.

"Forget the list, he goes to the block with the rest of the traitors." She smiled at me, I can't help thinking that the Imperial Captain would have made a good Thalmor.

"By your orders, captain." His hands clenched the board with the list so tightly, I idly wondered if it was going to be snapped in half from his frustration. "I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to the Summerset Isle."

"Just bury me here, there's no one back in Firsthold who would care enough to put me in the ground. At least here I won't be left as feed for the crows." The soldier eyes me for a moment before nodding and making the notation, then waves me on to take my place with the others.

General Tullius marches in front of us, I had expected a smug smile, but no…there was just a look of grim determination to see his duty done. If he wasn't just about to order my head cut off, I could almost respect that.

"Ulfric Stormcloak, some here in Helgen call you a hero, but we both know you're anything but. A hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne, a hero doesn't bloody his own people and call it righteous." Ulfric tried to argue back, but the gag was to tight, so all the rest of us heard was grunts and angry growls.

Tullius steps so close, that had Ulfric's hands not been bound he could have reached up and throttled the man, the tensing of Ulfric's arms tells me he thought the same. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into war and chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, like any rabid animal should be."

Ulfric didn't get the chance to try and reply, as Tullius finished his speech a loud thundering roar echoed off in the distance.

"What was that?" the sympathetic soldier looked to every corner of the sky he could, but from what I could see there was nothing above us but clear sky.

"It's nothing, carry on." General Tullius might have waved it off, but I could see the uncertainty in his eyes as he turns and motioned for the Imperial Captain to continue.

"Yes, General Tullius. Give them their last rites." A priestess wearing an amulet of Arkay just to the side of the headsman's block, though I noticed she seemed to refuse to make eye contact with any of us.

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved…" I hadn't bothered with her prayer, Auri-El had never answered my prayers, I doubt he was going to start now.

"For the love of Talos, shut up. Let's get this over with…" a Stormcloak interrupted her prayer, moving towards the headsman's block and taking a knee.

"As you wish" the priestess moved away from the block, a look of contempt clear on her features.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning." The Imperial Captain pushes her boot into the Stormcloaks back, forcing his neck to the block. "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" His voice was shaking now, but he never gave them the satisfaction of seeing his tears as the axe quickly came down. The sound of bone and tissue being severed echoed through the silent courtyard, it wasn't until the man's head struck the ground with a thud that the screams started up all around us.

"You Imperial bastards!" a woman screamed from my left, I recognized the voice as from the Stormcloak who had stopped me in the Pale Pass. I looked over to see her being physically restrained by two Imperial soldiers.

"As fearless in death, as he was in life." Ralof whispered to himself beside me, his head bent low in a silent prayer for the man's soul.

"Next, the high elf in the rags!"

If my hands hadn't been bound so tightly together that I'd do more damage to myself than her, I'd set that sadistic bitch on fire.

The roar from earlier range again, only this time it was close enough to send the stone in the courtyard trembling with it. "There it is again." The soldier who had had the list looks about the sky, but again he doesn't seem to find anything to explain the sound.

Nor why it was growing closer.

"I said, next prisoner!" I moved slowly to the block, the Imperial soldiers around me had their hand on the hilt of their sword in case I made I break for it. I just stared down at the block coated in thick red of the blood of the Stormcloak before me. My legs are taken out from under me when the Imperial Captain strikes the back of my knees. I kneel into the mud and the blood around me as my back is pushed and I feel the warm blood of the block meet my neck.

"What in Oblivion is that?" General Tullius breathes out the words in horror.

I hear the Imperial Captain bark out orders to the sentries in the towers for information, the only response she got was, "It's in the clouds!" before a massive creature landed on the tower behind the headsman, who was dead to the panic around him, had lifted his axe to end my life.

The axe never fell though, with a shout of "Dragon!" from the soldiers behind me, the giant black serpent reared back it head and let loose a roar that struck us like a physical blow.

I was thrown to the ground yards away, the headsman had been thrown into the wall, it was hard to feel bad for the man about to cut my head off. I shook my head to clear it, trying to stand quickly, I found myself to disoriented too do much more than kneel there as the fires burned around me.

"Hey, high elf. Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!" Ralof came rushing over to my side, and through sheer will I managed to force myself upright. He pulled towards a tower where another Stormcloak was waving him frantically inside.

We barreled through the door, the Stormcloak shutting and latching it closed behind us. I took in the scene in the small tower, there was about eight of us, and one of them was bleeding out badly onto the stone floor.

"Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?" Ralof sounded half hysterical now, he stood beside the door and let another Stormcloak cut the binding on wrists free.

"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric shook his head to clear it, then he looked to the woman bleeding out on the floor. "We need to move."

"But…" the soldiers next to kneeling beside the bleeding woman looked like they wanted to protest, but a quick glare from their Jarl seemed to set them to silent brooding.

"If cut my binds, I can help, I know a little about healing magic."

All the room's occupants seemed to finally notice my presence, most glared, but I could see the hope in the eyes of the only other female soldier in the room, she had been kneeling next to the bleeding woman, likely to say goodbye.

"He could be a Thalmor spy, shouldn't we put him down." A man from the stairs growled at me, his grip tightening around a stolen sword.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I hold out my wrists toward the man who had just finished Ralof's, "If you don't at least let me try, she's dead already…" he looks to the Ulfric, who after a long moment, simply nods.

The Stormcloak cuts the bindings with a quick jerk of his dagger, I rub my wrists as I kneel down next to the bleeding woman. It only takes me a moment to realize it is the woman who stopped me in the Pale Pass.

"The gods seem to enjoy irony today."

She's curled up around herself, the blood continues to pool around her with every grown and spasm. I gently move her hands away from her mid-section, there's a large piece of splintered wood sticking out of her abdomen.

"She won't have much time after you pull it out, it's the only thing slowing the bleeding." The women kneeling next to her spoke in as close to a calm voice as she could manage, her eyes were calculating now, trying to find a way around the problem.

"Ralof" I call to the man by the door, he walks over without question and kneels down. "I need you to pull it out on the count of three" I look to the woman at our side, "I need you to hold her still while I try and heal the damage."

Getting nods from them both I place my hands near the woman's abdomen, "One…two…three" and just like that Ralof jerks the wood free of the woman's stomach in a horrid sort of wet squelching sounds accompanies it. She screams out in pain and tries to trash, but the other woman has to tight a hold on her, and the blood loss should have already stolen most of her strength.

I force the magic out like Kalin taught me, willing to body to remember how it was supposed to be. Letting my magic be the fuel for the body repairing itself, I got a clear view of the wound now that my magic was inside trying to mend it.

It had come just short of severing her spine.

I imagine healing an already mortal wound would have left most mages exhausted, if not completely spent, but my magic ran deep enough that I barely noticed the exertion. "Her wound is closed, but there's nothing I can due for the blood loss."

Ulfric's gaze was heavy, I could see the suspicion and the gratitude warring in him. "Thank you" was all he could manage, though I noticed his voice was thick and dry. "She's your responsibility Friedna, see that she gets out of here alive." The woman who had been kneeling next to me only nods in reply, her eyes visibly narrowed the Jarl.

"Thank you, for saving her." She smiles at me with genuine gratitude in her eyes, and an earnest smile at her lips. I only nod and stand, "Come on, let's get a look through the tower." Ralof places a hand on my shoulder and motions toward the stair case. I guess he wants to give them some time without a stranger intruding, so I stand and follow him up.

As I pass the soldier who had originally objected to my help, I hear a muttered apology as he moves past me and down to the others. We were nearly to the top of the tower when the whole structure shook, I looked up to see the eyes of a Stormcloak who had been clearing rumble from the stairs widen a moment before the entire section of wall came crashing in, "Get Back!" Ralof pulls me back in time to get me out of the way of the torrent of fire that comes pouring in.

Once the dragon leaves the towers new opening we move to see the Stormcloak that had been clearing the rubble, his body had been reduced to little more than a charred husk. "See the inn on the other side?" I looked down to where Ralof was pointing, and old wood building with a thatch roof half on fire was nestled up closely to the tower.

"Jump through the roof and keep going! We'll follow you when we can!"

I stared to argue, but Ralof was already heading down the stairs. I looked back to the inns burning roof, I could make the jump, but the landing was going to be anything but pleasant.

I backed up as much as I could, took a deep breath, then launched myself forward and leapt out of the now ruined tower.

I hit the floor of the inn and rolled, the wind gets knocked out of me as I tumble along the wooden planks before abruptly coming to a stop by slamming into a table. I gasp in pain as I feel the warm liquid running down my arm, the adrenaline had numbered the pain from my shoulder, but it could only cover so much.

I sat up slowly and was about to heal it with a spell when I hear the dragons roar, and the screams of its victims were to close for me to stand idle as I tried the spell. Standing shakily, I made my way towards the opposite side of the inn where a wall had once been, I gently drop down to the first floor and move out to the courtyard.

"Haming, you need to get over here, now!" The Imperial who had read the executioners list was standing among a small group of survivors, a child runs to him from around the rubble they were taking shelter behind. "Thataboy. You're doing great!"

Ralof looks around the rubble and sees the man lying in the dirt, "Torolf!" he was about to run out to the man, but before he gets the chance, the dragon lands. "Gods...everyone get back!"

It took me a moment to understand, the dragon reared back its head, and I dove behind the rubble with them just before a massive bout of fire burns its way down the path.

"Still alive, prisoner?" He looks incredibly surprised to see me, considering there's a dragon killing everyone, I suppose that any of us are still alive should be surprising. "Keep close to me if you want to stay that way."

He motions for me to follow him as we stand, "Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense." An apparently drag me along with you as you do it.

"Gods guide you Hadvar." The old man, Gunnar, called out after us as Hadvar took off running.

We weave through ruined buildings and around pockets of charred bodies until we finally find a clear path to the main gates. "Stay close to the wall!" Hadvar shoves me into the wall as he slams into it himself, a moment later the Dragon perches on the wall above us. A long gout of fire spews out over us, the heat of it leaving me feeling singed.

Hadvar motions for me to follow once the dragons flown off, it doesn't take us long to find General Tullius shouting orders for battle mages to mount the walls. He catches sight of us long before Hadvar has the chance to request orders, "Hadvar! Into the keep, soldier, we're leaving!"

"It's you and me, prisoner, stay close!" Considering he's now heading away from the fire breathing dragon, I can live with that…hopefully.

We round the last corner before the main keeps' doors come into view, when Ralof and Friedna, with the woman I had healed slung over her back, come racing in through billows of smoke.

"Ralof! You damned traitor, out of my way!" Hadvar raises his sword, readying himself to fight if he has too.

Ralof looks shocked for a moment, then his shock turns to hate as he draws his own axe. "We're escaping, Hadvar! You're not stopping us this time."

Hadvar seems torn between getting to the safety of the keep, and trying to kill the Stormcloaks in front of him. "Fine, I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde." They both race past each other to a different entrance.

"You, come on! Into the keep!" Ralof holds the door open for Friedna and waits for me, I can here Hadvar calling me to follow him as he makes his way to the keep, but, no matter how sympathetic he's been, he had already left me to die once.

I break at a dead sprint towards Ralof, I can hear he dragons roar as I clear the door and Ralof slams it closed behind me.


End file.
